Conditioning Research

Eat, drink and be merry: dieting's new philosophy : Just what women need after the festive season: a new book telling them that eating fats is good and a shot of vodka is allowed I spotted this in the Guardian. Perhaps the tide is turning and people are starting to realise that there is a problem with lowfat diets? Here are a couple of quotes: "We live in a low-fat, fat-free culture, and women in particular have done their bodies a disservice, because we have disrupted our hormones to a quite phenomenal degree," said Blum, author of Secrets of Gorgeous: Hundreds of Ways to Live Well While Living It Up. "We have got ourselves to a stage where we can't comprehend that we need good fats to live a healthy life. We need fat to regulate our hormones. We need cholesterol to make oestrogen, progesterone and testosterone. We should be eating full-fat food, " she said. "Fat-free foods can contribute to weight gain because they register in the body as a carboh...

Steve Maxwell(remember Steve Maxwell ?) has a great post today on the 6 count burpee: One of the most grueling and gut checking exercises I can think of is the 6-Count Burpee, known in the military as the 6-Count Body Builder. It's a tremendous, results-producing, body fat burning exercise which exploits every body muscle from head to toe and drives the cardio system like few things else. Like other whole-body exercises of its kind, it instigates a considerable HGH surge, similar to sprint protocols. Something separating the Burpee is the athleticism and coordination involved: there's a level change and a strong core component, mixed with upper body pushing then followed by an explosive leap from the low squat position. Regularly working Burpees into your routine develops athletic attributes, such as agility and coordination, not typically covered in fitness programs.

Art DeVany mentioned this the other day . The world's oldest person has just died at 115. Here are some interesting quotes from t he news report: Parker lived by herself on the family farm until she was 100. At that lofty age, she could still climb a ladder to fix a light , grandson Donald Parker said Thursday. When her family learned she was still climbing ladders, they persuaded her to move in with relatives. Parker especially enjoyed eggs, sausage, bacon and fried chicken. "I guess we'll have to rethink lard," Daniels quipped after hearing about her high-fat diet. Parker, who credited her longevity to various factors, including education, remained relatively free of health problems in her last years. According to family members, she took few medications and at 113 could still walk.

I posted something about vitamin D a few days ago. Dr Briffa has more: More research links vitamin D with protection from cardiovascular disease Vitamin D deficiency was associated with a 20 per cent increased risk of cardiovascular disease after accounting for so-called confounding factors (such as age, sex, physical activity, body mass index, smoking status and presence of high blood pressure and/or diabetes). The authors of the study conclude that “These results indicate a strong and independent relationship of 25(OH)D deficiency with prevalent CVD in a large sample representative of the US adult population.” This study adds further to the body of evidence which links vitamin D with protection from cardiovascular disease. And it further reminds me of the need to ensure good levels of this nutrient in the body throughout the year. Winter time for many of us can spell danger here, because of reduced sunlight exposure of our skin.

I'm really getting into Scott Sonnon's joint mobility work . It is smoothing out some of the kinks in my body and helping with the everyday aches and pains. He has a lot of free videos and tutorials on his site and on Youtube and the free ebook he has ( download here if you don't want to subscribe to his list ) is worth reading. Here he is explaining the background: I am tending to do a short mobility routie everyday now and befoe every workout, to get things loose. I am not sure of the science behind this, but it feels good!

We haven't had any new IF Research for a while. Here is a quick podcast for you to listen to: Fasting May Equal Calorie-Restricted Diets A study in the journal Nature finds that worms that fasted every third day got the same anti-aging benefits offered by severe calorie-restricted diets. The report is referring to this study: Signalling through RHEB-1 mediates intermittent fasting-induced longevity in C. elegans Dietary restriction is the most effective and reproducible intervention to extend lifespan in divergent species1. In mammals, two regimens of dietary restriction, intermittent fasting (IF) and chronic caloric restriction, have proven to extend lifespan and reduce the incidence of age-related disorders2. An important characteristic of IF is that it can increase lifespan even when there is little or no overall decrease in calorie intake2. The molecular mechanisms underlying IF-induced longevity, however, remain largely unknown. Here we establish an IF regimen that effective...

normal service will be resumed in a few days...... Here is a move that I'll be playing with in future: from Rob

The effect of a low-carbohydrate, ketogenic diet versus a low-glycemic index diet on glycemic control in type 2 diabetes mellitus. OBJECTIVE : Dietary carbohydrate is the major determinant of postprandial glucose levels, and several clinical studies have shown that low-carbohydrate diets improve glycemic control. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that a diet lower in carbohydrate would lead to greater improvement in glycemic control over a 24-week period in patients with obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Research design and methods: Eighty-four community volunteers with obesity and type 2 diabetes were randomized to either a low-carbohydrate, ketogenic diet ( RESULTS : Forty-nine (58.3%) participants completed the study. Both interventions led to improvements in hemoglobin A1c, fasting glucose, fasting insulin, and weight loss. The LCKD group had greater improvements in hemoglobin A1c (-1.5% vs. -0.5%, p=0.03), body weight (-11.1 kg vs. -6.9 kg, p=0.008), and high density lip...

Some of the blogs I read have been paying a great deal of attention recently to Vitamin D. ( UPDATE e.g. Matt here ) Stephan had a great post - Vitamin D: It's Not Just Another Vitamin If I described a substance with the following properties, what would you guess it was? -It's synthesized by the body from cholesterol -It crosses cell membranes freely -It has its own nuclear receptor -It causes broad changes in gene transcription -It acts in nearly every tissue -It's essential for health There's no way for you to know, because those statements all apply to activated vitamin D, estrogen, testosterone and a number of other hormones. Vitamin D, as opposed to all other vitamins, is a steroid hormone precursor (technically it's a secosteroid but it's close enough for our purposes). The main difference between vitamin D and other steroid hormones is that it requires a photon of UVB light for its synthesis in the skin. If it didn't require UVB, it would be calle...

Jimmy Moore interviews Art DeVany . ( Downloadable too )

I just found this via Davie's blog . It is a nice little timer for doing Tabata intervals Tabata Timer

Longer intervals than are often practised (4 minutes with 2 minutes recovery) High-intensity aerobic interval training increases fat and carbohydrate metabolic capacities in human skeletal muscle. High-intensity aerobic interval training (HIIT) is a compromise between time-consuming moderate-intensity training and sprint-interval training requiring all-out efforts. However, there are few data regarding the ability of HIIT to increase the capacities of fat and carbohydrate oxidation in skeletal muscle. Using untrained recreationally active individuals, we investigated skeletal muscle and whole-body metabolic adaptations that occurred following 6 weeks of HIIT (~1 h of 10 x 4 min intervals at ~90% of peak oxygen consumption (VO2 peak), separated by 2 min rest, 3 d.week-1). A VO2 peak test, a test to exhaustion (TE) at 90% of pre-training VO2 peak, and a 1 h cycle at 60% of pre-training VO2 peak were performed pre- and post-HIIT. Muscle biopsies were sampled during the TE at rest, after 5...

Thinking back over this year in terms of training / health there are a few things that I have started to incorporate into my life. I've mentioned all of these things in this blog Posture - I have come to appreciate posture as important to health and something we need to incorporate in our understanding of what is natural and primal. Esther Gokhale's writings have been particularly helpful Krav maga - I've begun training in Krav Maga initially for the fitness but increasingly for other reasons. Self defence is a useful skill, it is real functional exercise and the social aspect is rewarding. Much of my training has been done solo and playing around in a group is just...fun! Joint Mobility - I am incorporating joint mobility moves into my daily routines often using Sonnon's material or Maxwell's Daily Dozen . As I get older mobility is becoming more and more important. Here is a new piece that Straight to the Bar pointed me to - A Beginner's Guide to...

Continuing the Paleo theme, you should also check out Frank Forencich's Exuberant Animal site. This used to be badged as "Go Animal", when all he had was his book, Play as if your life depends on it and then it contained lots of free articles. The site has evolved over the years, but still contains some great research Play as if.. ..is a superb book. It is simple and straight forward pleading for a more playful and natural approach to life, free from some of the stresses that we impose on ourselves.... Keith discusses his approach here. A thoroughgoing evolutionary approach: This book takes a refreshing, even subversive, look at human health and wellbeing in an explicitly evolutionary context. It is an application of Occam's Razor to our physical and mental health and wellbeing today. The author, Frank Forencich makes the point, familiar to readers of this journal, that "human physiology and biomechanics have been sculpted over the course of millions of ...

Sometime soon I am planning to do a post with a list of all my favourite Paleo sites ( Matt , Richard , Marc , Keith , Keith , Art ). For now however, I wanted to point you over to my favourite one of all, Mark Sisson's Daily Apple . Mark provides a wide range of information about diet, exercise and general lifestyle built around his Primal Blueprint - the idea that we are not really built for this modern way of life but for the way we lived maybe 10,000 years ago. His writing is really good - simple and accessible yet cutting to the heart of the matters that he discusses. His enthusiasm and lust for life is also infectious and inspiring and shines through his writing. His basic premise is this: The Primal Blueprint is a set of simple instructions (the blueprint) that allows you to control how your genes express themselves in order to build the strongest, leanest, healthiest body possible, taking clues from evolutionary biology (that’s the primal part). So we eat, move, play, re...

Seriously, it does. ( the full text of this one is available) Television, Physical Activity, Diet, and Body Weight Status: the ARIC Cohort Background Television (TV) watching is the most common leisure activity in the United States. Few studies of adults have described the relationship between TV and health behaviors such as physical activity, diet, and body weight status. Methods Extant data from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study were analyzed to assess the association of TV with physical activity, diet, and body mass index (BMI) among 15,574 adults at baseline (1986-89) and 12,678 adults six years later. Television, physical activity, and diet were collected with questionnaires and BMI was measured at both time points. Based on baseline TV exposure, adults were categorized into high, medium, and low TV exposure. Linear and logistic regression models were adjusted for gender, age, race-center, smoking, education, and general health. Results Relative to participant...

Carbohydrate Restriction has a More Favorable Impact on the Metabolic Syndrome than a Low Fat Diet. We recently proposed that the biological markers improved by carbohydrate restriction were precisely those that define the metabolic syndrome (MetS), and that the common thread was regulation of insulin as a control element. We specifically tested the idea with a 12-week study comparing two hypocaloric diets (~1,500 kcal): a carbohydrate-restricted diet (CRD) (%carbohydrate:fat:protein = 12:59:28) and a low-fat diet (LFD) (56:24:20) in 40 subjects with atherogenic dyslipidemia. Both interventions led to improvements in several metabolic markers, but subjects following the CRD had consistently reduced glucose (-12%) and insulin (-50%) concentrations, insulin sensitivity (-55%), weight loss (-10%), decreased adiposity (-14%), and more favorable triacylglycerol (TAG) (-51%), HDL-C (13%) and total cholesterol/HDL-C ratio (-14%) responses. In addition to these markers for MetS, the CRD subjec...

The guy at Beast skills is amazing.

...we were talking of rotation . I can certainly see the application of this in martial arts or self defence

Possibly. The association between sleep duration and obesity in older adults Background : Reduced sleep has been reported to predict obesity in children and young adults. However, studies based on self-report have been unable to identify an association in older populations. In this study, the cross-sectional associations between sleep duration measured objectively and measures of weight and body composition were assessed in two cohorts of older adults. Methods : Wrist actigraphy was performed for a mean (s.d.) of 5.2 (0.9) nights in 3055 men (age: 67–96 years) participating in the Osteoporotic Fractures in Men Study (MrOS) and 4.1 (0.8) nights in 3052 women (age: 70–99 years) participating in the Study of Osteoporotic Fractures (SOF). A subgroup of 2862 men and 455 women also underwent polysomnography to measure sleep apnea severity. Results : Compared to those sleeping an average of 7–8 h per night, and after adjusting for multiple risk factors and medical conditions, a sleep duration...

I first came across this movement years ago in an article by Clarence Bass . When I first started exploring the internet, his was one of the first sites that I looked for. I'd read all his books right back to the classic Ripped which I remember devouring as a student and adopting much of his diet and training approach. Actually Bass' article introduced me to Matt Furey (!) and via him I found Dragon Door and Pavel's kettlebells and lots of other sites. And I suppose through Pavel I started reading things by and about Steve Maxwell. (Actually Bass has introduced me to several important figures in my training and thinking - he was the first to point to Art DeVany - here - and to Pavel .) If you have never heard of Steve Maxwell , then you owe it to yourself to find out more. He is an inspiring trainer and martial artist. As you can see from the photo below, he has maintained a fit and efficient physique into his fifties. His latest blog post gets us back to the Hindu...

A while back I posted a video of the Full Contact Russian Twist and alternatives and there arose some debate about the safety of twisting. Vern Gambetta has put up a good post today about rotational movements: Rotation is bad? Let’s put this silly and absurd idea to rest immediately, rotational movement are not bad! Just like anything it is dependent on context, mode and where they are placed in the training program. Remember there are three cardinal planes of movement, sagittal, frontal and transverse and the body must be able to move through all three planes without restriction at will. A significant amount of force reduction against gravity occurs in the transverse plane, therefore to prevent injury avoiding rotational movements would be a huge mistake. Modes of exercise like medicine ball, kettle bell and stretch cords enable rotational movements to be trained in various patterns that can prepare the body for the demands in the specific sport or movement you are preparing for. Re...

Like Scott I am a sucker for a video of a big jump.... Lots more jumps

I've posted before that the whole idea of having to have 8 glasses of water a day is a myth. In the primal blueprint there is also no need for so much water . It all sounds nice and theoretical....until you see a story like this: A mother died after drinking four litres of water in under two hours, an inquest has heard

Related to some of the posture things I've been posting, how about this research which posits a link between sitting a lot and the biochemistry of getting fat: Physiologists analyzing obesity, heart disease, and diabetes found that the act of sitting shuts down the circulation of a fat-absorbing enzyme called lipase. They found that standing up engages muscles and promotes the distribution of lipase, which prompts the body to process fat and cholesterol, independent of the amount of time spent exercising. They also found that standing up uses blood glucose and may discourage the development of diabetes. Physiologists And Microbiologists Find Link Between Sitting And Poor Health

Girls who spent 20 minutes before soccer practice focusing on exercises aimed at improving strength, awareness, and neuromuscular control sustained 29% fewer lower-extremity injuries than those who did not warm up, Torbjørn Soligard, a Ph.D. student at the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences here, and colleagues reported online in BMJ. The warm up started with running exercises at slow speed combined with active stretching and controlled contacts with a partner. The running course included six to ten pairs of cones (depending on the number of players) about five to six metres apart (length and width). The second part consisted of six different sets of exercises; these included strength , balance, and jumping exercises, each with three levels of increasing difficulty. The final part was speed running combined with football specific movements with sudden changes in direction. The full paper is available below and is well worth a read. Comprehensive warm-up programme to prevent injuries i...

Just in case you missed this one: A Princeton University scientist will present new evidence today demonstrating that sugar can be an addictive substance, wielding its power over the brains of lab animals in a manner similar to many drugs of abuse Sugar can be addictive, Princeton scientist says I think we knew that already

Continuing the posture theme,I remembered reading this in Ori's Warrior Diet book. Ori's book is about intermittent fasting (specifically under eating for 20 hours and overeating for 4 hours - in the evening) but he does dicsuss other things such as training and posture. Some elements of this fit with the model that I've been putting up here in recent days: chest not pushed out back ever so slightly bent forward. Not sure about the abs. Esther has you flexing your "inner corset" rather than your abs.

In my last post about posture I mentioned Jean Couch. She runs the Balance Centre and the principles that she teaches are similar to those of Porter and Gokhale who I have also mentioned previously. There are subtle differences between their approaches - and I think Gokhale has developed things to the greatest detail - but their basic premises are the same. (by the way I wonder if I should give a prize to anyone that manages to count the number of times she says "instantly" in that video!) As I said before I think posture should be part of our primal blueprint approach to fitness.

Free 10 minute workout routines In the past - for example when asked about suggestions for a beginner - I have often recommended Craig Ballanytne's Turbulence Training workouts. They are straightforward and based on good science - basic exercises, interval training and sensible routines. Granted, his boiler plate internet marketing copy is a bit over the top but a good example of its genre! Anyway, Craig is offering a new free 10-minute workout report as a nice big Christmas gift! Just click on 10 Minute Workouts

Eddie commented on a recent post : With her work on postures in less industrialized cultures, I saw Ms. Perez and now Gokhale , Porter , Couch and those that follow, as being to posture and gait, what WestonPrice.org is to nutrition. This got me thinking about posture being an underappreciated aspect of evolutionary fitness / primal fitness . There is a lot of talk about diet and exercise, even sleep and stress, but little on posture and correct biomechanics. Matt first pointed to Gokhale and I have loved her book. I then had suggested to me Porter's Ageless Spine which is based on similar principles. They have taken as a template the posture of people in less industrialised cultures - just as Weston Price tried to recover the dietary knowledge of such cultures. It is an interesting thing to think about - what is the natural way to stand / sit / squat / lie / walk? If we are so into applying the primal blueprint to out diet and exercise, what does it mean for our postu...

I keep on posting things like this, but the studies keep on coming. Here is another one which says that : static stretching may not be recommended before athletic events or physical activities that require high levels of force. On the other hand, ballistic stretching could be more appropriate because it seems less likely to decrease maximal strength. Acute Effect of a Ballistic and a Static Stretching Exercise Bout on Flexibility and Maximal Strength.

Leucine for retention of lean mass on a hypocaloric diet ABSTRACT As obesity rates continue to climb, there is a pressing need for novel weight loss techniques. However, the energy-restricted diets recommended for weight loss typically result in significant amounts of lean tissue loss, in addition to the desired body fat loss. Leucine, a supported anticatabolic agent, has shown promise in research at many levels. First, leucine is known to stimulate the mammalian target of rapomycin pathway, which initiates translation and protein synthesis in muscle cells. Furthermore, leucine may help to regulate blood glucose levels by promoting gluconeogenesis. Finally, several recent studies provide evidence that leucine aids in the retention of lean mass in a hypocaloric state. The aim of this paper is to review relevant leucine research in the three areas described and assess its potential as supplement for obese individuals.

not my usual fare, but have a look at this (via Lean and Hungry Fitness )

This is from yesterday's Daily Mail Wartime diet of regular fasting slashes prostate cancer risk Men who halve the amount they normally eat for a week or two once a month could markedly lower their chances of a tumour at a young age. Animal studies carried out at the University of Minnesota showed wartime eating habits significantly delayed the onset of cancer. Researcher Professor Margot Cleary , from The Hormel Institute at the University of Minnesota, said humans may have evolved to respond to cycles of feast and famine. 'My theory is this is how all humans ate until fairly recently. 'We would have periods of restriction and then, when there was a holiday or it was harvest time, there would be periods of plenty. 'Nowadays, it's a permanent feast, especially in developed countries.' It is worth reading. I've not found the paper yet but it looks like this : Abstract: Prospective studies indicate that as body weight and/or energy intake increase so does the...

I think these are essentially single leg squats. Tough and useful for everyday life, strengthening movement that we all use every day. (Especially if like me you live in a top floor flat) This guy is holding 150lbs (two 75lb dumbbells)

I have talked lots in the past about stretching and how it is overrated especially as a warm up. Mobility work and dynamic stretching is fine but static stretches actually diminish performance. One of the justifications for stretching is that it improves flexibility. This study says that the less flexible a runner is the better is his running economy. Sit-and-Reach Flexibility and Running Economy of Men and Women Collegiate Distance Runners. Flexibility has been controversially suggested as one of the biomechanical factors contributing to the variability observed in running economy among distance runners. The purpose of this investigation was to determine the magnitude of the relationship between sit-and-reach flexibility and running economy in men and women. Eight collegiate distance runners (4 men and 4 women) served as subjects for this correlational study (age = 19.9 +/- 1.25 years; &OV0312;o2max = 63.2 +/- 3.4 ml.kg.min). Each subject's flexibility was measured using ...

Richard has put up a great post on Mark's Daily Apple detailing his amazing physical transformation built on a paleo diet and intermittent fasting . My Self-Experimentation and Transformation Sorry to keep plugging it but Brad's Eat Stop Eat is a great introduction to IF .

This is cheekily copied from Peak Performance at Runner's World We've seen a number of studies recently, mainly of vitamin supplements and anti oxidants, where the good stuff didn't seem to be as good as we have long believed. File this one under: the bad stuff isn't as bad as you thought. Here, a very impressive list of cancer researchers and nutritionists did a very big review of studies on meat consumption and renal cell (kidney) cancer, and found no association after they had controlled for body weight, fruit and veggie intake, and alcohol intake. Their findings: "Intakes of red meat, processed meat, poultry, or seafood were not associated with the risk of renal cell cancer. Conclusions Intakes of fat and protein or their subtypes, red meat, processed meat, poultry, and seafood are not associated with risk of renal cell cancer ." Here is the abstract: Fat, Protein, and Meat Consumption and Renal Cell Cancer Risk: A Pooled Analysis of 13 Prospective Studie...

Mountain Athlete Rob gets his guys doing a challenging ab / core move sandbag half moons . Sandbags are great. He got the move from Catalyst Athletics Begin with a sandbag lying flat on the ground at one side of your feet. Squat and twist to grab ahold of it, lift and accelerate the bag up and overhead, lowering to the opposite side of your feet. Attempt to maintain as close to a neutral spine position as possible. I'm not sure what my posture gurus would make of it!

....although when you read this press release you might not initially realise that that is the message that is being given! A stunning discovery based on epigenetics (the inheritance of propensities acquired in the womb) reveals that consuming choline—a nutrient found in eggs and other foods—during pregnancy may significantly (and beneficially) affect breast cancer outcomes for a mother's offspring. Read more